A cocktail shaker, jigger and barspoon are the signature tools of a bartender, used for making many different kinds of delicious drinks. I spent time working in the MU Photo Studio on an assignment to practice photographing metal and glass subjects.

January 27, 2016

I was walking to a class on the Qur'an this afternoon when I passed by the mosque, and like almost always, stopped to grab a photo. I loved the person passing by at the right time, and the steam rising from the power plant in the back. I was particularly less thrilled by this big pentagonal lens flare I got stuck with. Stupid physics.

January 19, 2016

The snow came billowing in this morning and afternoon, just enough for them to cancel classes at the end of the night, after most had left anyways. The periodic flurries were a wonder to photograph, and I spent almost all my time between classes running around in the cold photographing people and the streets of downtown. Most of my friends found the situation much less ideal though and I was alone in my excitement.

January 17, 2016

A friend came over to smoke cigars and watch Critical Role in the down time between Dungeons and Dragons games. He was happy to have some camaraderie while he puffed away on a "reject" cigar that he had bought.

January 10, 2016

With our one brief flurry of snow, Gunpowder Gertie went out onto the deck to explore and see what she could find. She couldn't seem to make up her mind about the snow and after a little while came back inside to warm up, tracking little bits of ice in with her.

January 9, 2016

The snow finally arrived, and I took my new 5D out for a test spin in the cold weather. It didn't have any problems whatsoever, but my lack of a beanie or other cold-weather headgear was pretty rough. Not much snow fell but there was enough to make it fun to photograph.

January 7, 2016

Oklahoma is mostly a pretty boring place to just drive through, though if I had more time I always see things I want to stop and check out. Like this old building I drove by.

January 7, 2016

Max pours espresso over foamed milk at Filter(ed) in McKinney, Texas. Max is an experienced barista and die-hard coffee enthusiast who brings passionate enthusiasm for his coffee to the counter every time I have visited.

January 5, 2016

Onwards I move, getting a late start in the afternoon and cruising through Oklahoma as the sun started to get lower in the sky. I made it into McKinney, Texas after the sun had set, but got to enjoy the Oklahoma sights beforehand.

January 4, 2016

Left home for a brief, whirlwind road-trip, first stop: Fayetteville, Arkansas. Cruising in late at night I met up with my friends, one of whom was kind enough to lend me a couch to sleep on. They also took me around to see the sights as it were, which was mostly the lights of town from up on Mount Sequoyah, where you can ee them now pointing out the different parts of town below.

December 30, 2015

Went out partying with friends the night before New Years Eve, since I would be spending New Year's Eve itself bartending. While out dancing with a friend I got a photo of her in a hat she stole from my roommate. And then I left to go and rest up for the New Year's Festivities.

Out on the sands of Big River Beach by Mendocino, leftover puddles from the rain reflect the clouds above on a warm and beautiful day. In the distance other visitors relax closer to the water.

November 26, 2015

My superstar sister and I hit the slopes together, along with our uncle, before the thanksgiving ritual commenced. We got off the mountain with a very, very healthy appetite, just about in time for dinner to be served.

Spent the last few days wandering about Santa Fe, exploring shops and art galleries and waiting for clouds to roll in to really complete the perfect Southwestern sunsets. More photos should be coming soon, especially of my familial partner-in-crime.

November 21, 2015

Tali Soroker monkeys her way onto the entry sign at the New Mexico-Oklahoma border. The two of us spent almost two days crossing from KCI airport to Santa Fe.

November 20, 2015

The sun sets in front of large shipping trucks, deep in the heart of Kansas. The start of my road trip down to New Mexico got off to a spectacular start, with a phenomenal show for the first few hours, until darkness finally set in.

A woman walks in front of the Islamic Center of Central Missouri as the sun sets behind incoming clouds, during the evening of November 11, 2015.

November 11, 2015

The clouds came racing in from the west as the sun was starting to set. Just out of town the virga was obscuring the sunset, threatening to drench the city. For a few brief moments though, the wind gusted and the fallen leaves tore across the sidewalks and blew into the sky as the last puffs before the storm fled to the east.

November 7, 2015

Chris Debrodie, DJ Jailbreak, works to get the dance floor going at Deja Vu Comedy Club Saturday November 7, 2015. Debrodie plays from a neon-lit booth above the dance floor, that he does his best to populate with people coming down from the upstairs comedy show.

Got a good learning experience with a local graduate student to explore the MKT trail at night and try a hand at shooting star photography. The trail was really cool, and there were many very interesting things to shoot, especially the other photographers.

September 17, 2015

Heading to the Mosque later today, going to be visiting with other Geography of the Middle East students. The other day, while walking by, I got a chance to see the sun rising on the minaret, lighting it up.

While studying Geography of the Middle East, I got to meet the lizards of Professor Joseph Hobbs. Above is a veiled chameleon from Yemen, Below is a Bearded Dragon, not native to the Middle East but which also showcases desert adaptations including the ability to absorb water through the skin.

September 1, 2015

August 29, 2015

Went into the International Taphouse for a few beers with my roommate. Got to enjoy some of New Belgium's more exclusive beer during a tap takeover, I particularly enjoyed the Oscar Worthy Coffee Ale.

August 29, 2015

A few others showed up later, including two little nuggets who kept company with the roomie while their mother went inside for a beer of her own.

January 16, 2015

I went for a walk to find that the creek was all frozen. Totally delightful to go play on and find things to photograph.

January 2, 2015

Went out for a walk today, heading into town to return a library book, and dragging a friend along through the freezing winds. She was not amused, though I was. Sadly this is not a shot from around here, but back in Mendocino where there is still green and frost is just a little gem found in early morning shadows.

December 29, 2014

Back in Missouri for the New Year, left California by San Francisco in the morning, just as the sun was coming up. Getting totally excited for 2015, its gonna be a good year!

December 26, 2014

December 26, 2014

December 26, 2014

Left the mountains for the beach, out at Mendocino, California. A spectacular high tide event that pushed the water in further than usual made for excellent waves, and digging an old Tamron lens out of the attic was an excellent way of mixing it up for the walk along the cliffs.

December 18, 2014

Went to a bonfire to celebrate the end of the semester, were we burned plenty of junk mail and old school papers. The ground was wet and it took us a little while but it burnt well enough with a bit of work.

December 18, 2014

It was rather cathartic to watch the fire, though taking pictures on the cold ground got very unpleasant. Plenty of lewd comments were made about me warming my posterior practically in the fire itself. The night wound down too quickly, partly because for me the semester was not yet over, and before everyone had even arrived the fire was out and we had scattered.

December 18, 2014

More snow arrived last night, and while it is now melting away, this morning there were nice flurries to freeze in while I ran around taking pictures.

December 18, 2014

While I walked around campus, the big fat flakes came drifting down and made everything so wonderfully still and quiet and atmospheric, I think anyways as I had headphones in and was listening to music.

December 18, 2014

It was a ton of fun to relax in the snow before my Arabic final, a fate that otherwise would have me looking like this unfortunate soul who must be off to his own scholarly demise.

December 8, 2014

I went exploring down a new part of the MKT trail, while waiting for a class to start. The weather has been nice and not too cold so I headed off into the woods to a little wooden bridge. Right before I got to it, there was this smaller little path off down to the creek that the bridge ran over.

December 8, 2014

Down in the creek I had to hopscotch carefully over the rocks to try and get to angles that weren't littered with trash. The area here is too close to a main road, and plastic cups and bags and cigarettes were liberally sprinkled throughout.

November 25, 2014

So I finally got home and had a chance to edit some of the more complicated shots from Monument Valley. Taken right as the sun was coming up, I got a few of these, maybe more will make appearances later. It was a little hard to see exactly what I was getting always, as I kept running inside to warm up, even though I was healthily bundled.

November 16, 2014

While I was entrenched in my apartment writing a letter to a dear friend, a dusting of snow came down, I was lucky that another buddy was kind enough to alert me to this with excited hysterics over facebook. I bundled up and headed out into the not-so-thick flurries.

November 16, 2014

I went exploring in the nearby park, just down the hill. While I was there the snow started to peter off and by the time I was in the trees it was in its last little puff before the clouds blew away.

November 16, 2014

Definitely loved the walk, though some of my friends in the area were less than amused by the meteorological turn of events. I guess its not for everyone.

November 12, 2014

Well everything is cold now, and all the trees are dropping their leaves like its going out of style. While they do everybody is bundling up. Standing in line at the store, five people in a row were there to buy gloves, and judging by the clerks banter they weren't the only ones.

Well the cold weather finally arrived this morning, and everything dropped a good 20°F into the wonderful range just below freezing. Walking to a friends house to make pancakes this morning I could smell the fresh crisp smell of the cold.